Guidance for Resizing disks in Azure Marketplace GP Build
search cancel

Guidance for Resizing disks in Azure Marketplace GP Build

book

Article ID: 296840

calendar_today

Updated On:

Products

VMware Tanzu Greenplum

Issue/Introduction

When customers need to expand an Azure Greenplum cluster—such as doubling disk space from 2TB to 4TB—there are three primary approaches to achieve this.

1. Add More Storage with GPGrow

  • GPGrow Utility: Used to increase the disk size for segment instances, triggering an automatic restart for segments to complete the process.

  • Downtime: The cluster needs to be stopped briefly. Downtime is mainly determined by detaching and reattaching instances.

  • Marketplace Limitation: Part of the cluster may be managed by Azure Marketplace templates, making in-place expansion inconsistent.

  • Workarounds:

    • Create a new cluster of the desired size, then copy data from the old cluster.

    • Use GPCopy to move data between clusters, or use GPBackup/GPRestore for backup/restore operations.

    • Network speed directly impacts total move time.

  • Notes:

    • GPGrow does not support increasing master instance disk size.

    • Azure only permits increasing disk sizes; this operation cannot be conducted online.

    • The utility handles 3 data disks per segment instance, with size specified in GB.

2. Increase Resources Per Segment

  • Add Compute/RAM: Expanding CPU or memory resources per segment instance.

  • Concurrency: Ideal for scenarios requiring higher concurrency (more users or parallel operations).

  • This does not directly involve changing disk capacity.

3. Increase Number of GP Segments

  • Redistributing Data: Adding more segments requires redistributing existing data across the cluster.

  • GPExpand Utility: Mandatory after segment expansion.

  • Complexity & Limitations:

    • Least common method due to complexity.

    • Reduces the data-to-resource ratio but can lower parallelism.

    • Virtualized marketplace clusters lack flexibility for this approach; new VMs and custom networking/routing are required.

    • Can be a costly operation considering resource requirements.

 

Environment

Product Version: 6.21

Resolution

If needed, please contact GPDB support for more detailed information on resizing.

Powered by Wolken Software